DMN Data and Research

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 10:59:09 -0400

Where is DMN found?
Concentrations of DMN have been found in bacon, processed foods, drinking water, Nigerian beverages, and natural unprocessed foods such as mushrooms. The general concentrations that are found are 0.1-5 micrograms per kilogram in food. Nitrosamines are formed when introduced to secondary amines.
Synthesis of DMN
The amounts and reagents used in preparation were 8.46g of Sodium Nitrite, 5.09g of dimethylamine hydrochloride, 11.04g of oxalic acid, and 200mL of dichloromethane. This synthesis was carried out with a 500mL round bottom flask, a magnetic stirrer, and stir plate for 1-5 hours. It was filtered through a vacuumed system using petroleum ether and 5.0g of silica gel to absorb water. DMN is an yellow oil like substance when purified by rotovap.
How was the laser energy produced?
The lasers used for dissociation were produced by three lasers in the laboratory. A dissociation, tune-able-proble, and ionization with wavelengths of 389nm, 225nm-227nm, and 355nm. The lasers required coumarin 450 and DCM were used to produce the wavelengths required as well as focal lenses. These dyes were changed throughout the experiment because a loss in energy was noted.
Ion Images
The technique used to capture the ions were velocity mapped ion imaging (VMII). The ions were collected on a phosphorus screen that rest in-front of the camera lens. The camera captured pictures throughout a 30 minute scan that is then summed up in our computer program using Labview. After obtaining a beautiful ion image, it is processed in another program using Matlab called FINA. In FINA we reconstruct the image to find the center of the scan and produce beta values for vector correlations.
What did we find?
The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the amount of energy inputted into DMN affects the geometry of the molecule comparing our study to two others. This was previously studied at room temperature with 363.5nm light and vacuumed conditions at 355nm light in vapor phase. We studied DMN at 368nm light to find out the geometry was not affected by the energy put into the molecule.

Stop-Motion of DMN Dissociation *Blue arrow indicates laser*

Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) of DMN

Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) of DMN

NO bond stretch with a planar configuration

Mia receives summer research support

Mon, 8 May 2017 14:46:45 -0400

Mia has received a research grant to work in the laser lab during Summer 2017. Mia, a graduate of Kalamazoo Central High School, is a Heyl Scholar. Heyl Scholars receive scholarship support for studying the natural sciences at Kalamazoo College. F.W. Heyl (shown above -- that’s not Mia!) was the first director of research at the Upjohn Company and endowed scholarships students from Kalamazoo to study the sciences at Kalamazoo College and for Kalamazoo College students to pursue graduate work in the chemical sciences at Yale. You can read more about the Heyl Scholars here.

Eric earns a poster award at 2017 PCSD

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 15:00:06 -0400

Eric Thornburg (’17) presented his Senior Individualized Project as a poster at the 2017 Pacific Conference on Spectroscopy and Dynamics. He was the only undergraduate presenter at the conference and won an award for his poster, “Photodissociation Dynamics of HONO at 355 nm: Vector Correlations in the NO Fragment.”

You can read about the conference here and Eric’s award here. Kalamazoo College did a press release as well.

Everybody works for Eric

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 14:33:36 -0400

We have one SIP in the lab this summer. Everybody is working for the success of Eric’s SIP. Here is the team focused on the first experiments.

Two SIPs attempted in Summer 2015

Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:26:18 -0400

Mara and Jeremy are conducting research for the Senior Individualized Project (SIP). Eric is starting work on HONO before he heads to Germany for Study Abroad.